0 Assigned ID: 1245 ----- Attempting Submission 1 (Tue Sep 27 00:25:01 GMT 2016) ----- HST Phase I Proposal 1245 (proposal_mct.apt) successfully submitted. Receipt: # 1245-1 ----- Attempting Submission 2 (Fri Sep 30 03:09:18 GMT 2016) ----- 0 ----- Attempting Submission 1 (Tue Dec 13 23:41:34 GMT 2016) ----- Spectacular mergers at the cosmic dawn: a HST, ALMA, and JWST synergy How did the first massive galaxies in the universe form? Theoretical models predict that these form through mergers of gas-rich galaxies at very high-redshifts. These models are often invoked to explain the existence of massive `red and dead` galaxies by z~2. We have unexpectedly identified a sample of six z>6 QSOs with close, gas-rich companions at the same redshifts through our on-going ALMA survey of [CII] and dust emission in QSO host galaxies. This is the first unambiguous direct observational evidence of gravitational interactions within the first Gyr of the universe, supporting the aforementioned theoretical models. These newly discovered QSO-galaxy pairs are a unique sample to demonstrate key capabilities of JWST in early science, such as the multi-object and IFU modes of NIRSpec. Remarkably, three of these systems are separated by less than 10 kpc (<2 arcsec), which makes them prime targets to exploit the unparalleled IFU capabilities of JWST/NIRSpec in early science. Such observations will allow us to map the morphology and kinematics of these gravitational interactions as function of separation from the QSOs, which will enlighten our understanding of early black hole and galaxy growth. Thus, it is of critical importance to characterize the rest-frame UV/optical properties of these companions before the JWST launch. Here we propose deep WFC3/IR F140W observations to set the first firm constraints on their rest-frame UV properties, which can only be achieved by the sensitivity and resolution of HST. These timely HST observations will be essential to enable a plethora of JWST early science programs. We aim to characterize the rest-frame UV properties of six faint (J>26) z>6 galaxies very close (<11 arcsec) to bright (J<21) QSOs at the same redshift. We will image each field for one orbit with WFC3/IR F140W to achieve an AB agnitude of ~27 at 5-sigma. These observations will allow us to clearly distinguish between blue, star-forming galaxies and red, obscured galaxies for the whole sample, providing clues to understand the general properties of these newly discovered sources in a statistical manner. We will use the default 4-step box dither pattern (WFC3-IR-DITHER-BOX-MIN) since 1) it gives adequate subpixel sampling to reconstruct nyquist-sampled (2pix/FWHM) images, and 2) it is a commonly-used pattern, which facilitates finding a PSF reference with the same sampling for PSF subtraction purposes. We decided to increase the dither steps to avoid possible self-persistence issues due to the bright quasars. We have restricted the orientations for P167-13 to avoid contamination from difraction spikes from bright stars close to our target. Galaxies 0 false false false true false false SUPPORTED GALAXY HIGH REDSHIFT GALAXY INTERACTING GALAXY QSO QUASAR J2000 J2000 expected J>26 GALAXY HIGH REDSHIFT GALAXY INTERACTING GALAXY QSO QUASAR J2000 J2000 expected J>26 GALAXY HIGH REDSHIFT GALAXY INTERACTING GALAXY QSO QUASAR J2000 J2000 expected J>26 GALAXY HIGH REDSHIFT GALAXY INTERACTING GALAXY QSO QUASAR J2000 J2000 expected J>26 GALAXY HIGH REDSHIFT GALAXY INTERACTING GALAXY QSO QUASAR J2000 J2000 expected J>26 GALAXY HIGH REDSHIFT GALAXY INTERACTING GALAXY QSO QUASAR J2000 J2000 expected J>26 WFC3/IR Imaging No No F140W WFC3/IR Imaging No No F140W WFC3/IR Imaging No No F140W WFC3/IR Imaging No No F140W WFC3/IR Imaging No No F140W WFC3/IR Imaging No No F140W POS-TARG DITHER 4.004 LINE 4.015 false false 74.653 4 18.528 WFC3-IR-DITHER-BOX-MIN 1 false /Users/banados/Dropbox/proposals/2017/hst/mcp/phase2/OP-cache/phase2_companions-v01.xml The scheduling data was generated by CASM 24.2. CASM was run in Phase II mode. 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